Search the Site

Souvenir Sunday at Hoedspruit Airport, South Africa

It’s Souvenir Sunday – the day Stuck at the Airport stops to take a look at some of the inexpensive, offbeat and/or locally-themed items you can find at airport gift shops.

This week’s Souvenir Sunday items come to us courtesy of world traveler Jon Douglas, who sent images and greetings from Eastgate Lughawe Airport in Hoedspruit, South Africa.

Jon was just finishing up a safari adventure in the nearby Sabi Sand Reserve and said the magnets available for sale in the airport gift shop accurately depicted the animals he saw on game drives, including “lions, leopards, zebras, elephants, kudu and even a giraffe or two.”

In the gift shop Jon also spotted amarula chocolates and liqueur, both made from the fruits of the marula tree. “The liqueur tastes like Bailey’s,” he said, “and is a popular post-safari drink.”

Here are Jon’s notes about the airport:

“The airport serves Cape Town and Johannesburg with three daily flights on South African Express and feels like flying in a different era, with manual arrival and departure boards and a walk across the tarmac to climb the steps to the plane. In addition to all the usual pre-flight rituals, the pilots need to check to make sure there aren’t any warthogs on the runway!”

Thanks, Jon, for sharing your pics for Souvenir Sunday. A travel-themed souvenir is on its way to you!

If you spot a fun, inexpensive, off-beat and/or locally-themed items in an airport gift shop on your next trip, please snap a few photos, take some notes and send it along to StuckatTheAirport.com. If your souvenirs are featured on Souvenir Sunday you’ll get a special travel-themed thank-you gift too!